Revelation
by Airla
Summary: As the world changes, secrets that were never meant to be told are brought to light. AU.
1. Prologue

_Prologue: Beginnings_

"_Kaa-san!" Bright blue eyes laughed, little feet bouncing in excitement. "Hind an' Seek!"_

_The mother turned, her rough kimono brushing her calves. Her hands were full of newly washed linen. "Not now Jyuu. Kaa-san is busy."_

_Little eyes dampened with tears. "Pleeease? Pretty please?"_

_She frowned at the cloth in her hands, considering- then dropped them back into the basket from whence they came. Smiled at her son. His whoop of happiness echoed through the forest. "You're it!"_

_The woman grinned, watching her little boy rush to get a head start. Ever since her husband had left for a bigger town to look for work, he had lost a little of his infectious smile and uncontainable excitement. It was good to see him with so much energy again. She began to follow, easily keeping an eye on the bright yellow of his shirt as he scouted for a good hiding place. It was almost between one instant and the next- the very middle of a blink- when he vanished._

"_Jyuu?"_

_She leapt, unthinking, after him, and crashed into a glade where she found him unharmed, gazing in awe. "Mama, look! Pretty foxie!"_

_She whirled, ready to shoo off the creature- and froze. _

_The demon fox- for how could any animal that size be otherwise? - rose high above, the tip of its nose a handsbreadth higher than her head. A part of her mind was shrieking in alarm, yet she found herself transfixed. Its pelt was a swirl of azure- the sea as it stretched endless to the horizon, the infinity of the night sky, the swirl of blue on a painters palatte, the smooth reflection of lake water- all dusted with the sheen of the moon, the glitter of stars. Her gasp seemed to swallow all the air in the clearing, stirring the grass and drifting the fur of the great creature towards her, swirling it to reflect the unimaginable depths of the soul. _

_It was then that her body kicked in with a vengeance, and her shriek rebounded off the trees. She grasped her skirt with one hand, her son with the other- and froze again. _

_It was awake._

_The eye was huge; easily half the length of her entire body, but that was not what held her rooted to the ground. She was looking into the eye of a God. Grays and blues and impossible purples swirled around the pit black pupil, drawing her in like a sea current, sweeping her out farther and farther- then the portal closed, and she was free._

_She hauled Jyuu up over her shoulder and took off running, not looking back for fear of becoming trapped again. She didn't stop until she was in the village, didn't pause until she had told the headman, didn't rest until they reassured her a message had been sent to the leader of Leaf Country- the Yondaime Hokage._

_

* * *

_Not all things are as they seem- take, for example, the attack on Konoha by a fabled beast, the _Kyuubi_. Save a precious few, all will tell you that it was a senseless assault by an evil animal, bent on the destruction of everything in this world. Few would ever see the Hokage's records, in which a report was filed a week before the incident that a frightening apparition in the shape of a fox had been seen. Nor would anyone notice that an advance team of the Hokage- called only for the most important missions, Jiraya- the master seal expert, and Hyuuga Hiashi- clan head and most adept at all things to do with chakra, had been sent out just two days before 'the slaughter of Konoha'. Even less would connect it to the birth of Hyuuga Hinata that very same day. Why should they? An Heiress and a demon could never meet. A day and a half later, the _Kyuubi_ came, whipping fire with its nine burning tails, roaring incoherent demands. Perhaps disaster could have been avoided had anyone been able to communicate with the furious beast, but it was hopeless. Not a person among the Konoha village, shinobi or otherwise, could understand the language of a fox.


	2. Secrets

_Chapter One: Secrets_

Naruto was deathly bored. The dirt was brown, the sky was blue, the wall he was leaning against was rough and tarred black, and there was nothing to _look at._ Letter from the Hokage coming or not, he was beginning to think this extended stop was all so his sensei could peep at naked girls. Hey, he was seventeen and more than able to appreciate feminine beauty. But there was _training_ he could be doing! Besides….

_**Be quiet, brat.**_

…. Naruto could hear _it_ much more clearly when he wasn't doing anything.

_Only if you go away, nine-tailed headache._

Come to think of it, its voice had been much clearer in general lately, a constant murmur at the back of his mind that he barely had to focus on to hear anymore. It was troubling, a little frightening, and Naruto found himself working past exhaustion in an attempt to drown out the presence nestled in his brain. If only _Ero-sennin_ would _train _him! Lately he had him doing meditation, spouting crap about how '_a true warrior is calm at heart_'. It was making the Kyuubi's voice worse…_louder…_

_**I don't like your voice much either you little—**_

_Would you just shut up!_

Naruto grimaced, rubbing his face vigorously and shaking his head, while firmly ignoring the taunting murmurs from inside his skull. Pushing himself off the wall and standing straight, he decided he had been patient enough with Jiraya. It was past time to spoil his fun. All it took was a feminine henge and a scream of _pervert!_, and soon Jiraya was dodging wooden buckets and female fists. As his sensei leapt over the thick log walls, Naruto finished his genjutsu and was treated to the sight of his harried teacher falling for a pit trap jutsu-

-Literally.

Colorful curses blossomed from the pit, demanding that he stop and reverse his trick or something anatomically impossible was sure to happen in his near future, but Naruto wasn't stupid. He waited until he was a good mile away before dropping the henge, safely ensconced in a tall, sturdy tree. He took a moment to survey the area for a sign of his probably pissed off sensei before collapsing on his perch in helpless gales of laughter. The _look_ on Jiraya's face as he tumbled into that hole was price-

"_Naruto!_"

He barely had time to gasp in a breath for a fresh set of giggles before his teacher appeared on his lofty tree branch. Jiraya's fist came within inches of his face before Naruto let his laughter carry him off the branch. He twisted, catlike, in mid-air and landed lightly on his feet. Even then, he could barely stand, bent double and snickering so hard he almost fell on his face twice. It really wasn't that funny, but he was so glad to be _moving_, doing _something_, that his glee kept spilling over and out of control.

Jiraya came down the non-suicidal way, hopping from branch to branch until he landed on the ground. His pitiful excuse of a student had not even attempted to hide from his wrath, choosing instead to continue chortling, trying- and failing- to speak.

"You…that was….I can't…_air!..._"

More laughter. A vein pulsed in his forehead.

Nothing he had seen or heard so far was enough to stop Jiraya from stalking up to his student and lifting him off the ground by the lapels of his orange and black jacket, his voice low and threatening. "_Naruto…_"

The boy…really almost a man now, looked down at him, blue eyes bright and clear as sapphires, still chuckling and so obviously unafraid of him that Jiraya found he could not hit him now that he was finally caught. Instead the laughter became infectious, and he put down his student, so much and yet so little like one he'd had before, and laughed along with him. Truly, it _had_ been a well executed prank, and if Jiraya was so foolish an enemy, he would have lost that fight before it even had the chance to begin.

However, he kept one hand firmly on his apprentice, and after a moment of comfortable silence, tightened his grip.

"So you want to train huh? Well, you got it."

Naruto whooped and sank into a ready stance.

"Bring it on _gramps_!"

Jiraya sputtered for moment, outraged, then smiled broadly.

"Who said we were going to _spar?_ You'll train… the hard way."

* * *

250 push-ups, 173 sit-ups, and several thousand complaints liberally sprinkled with curses later, a sharp shriek rebounded through the air.

Jiraya stilled, looking up from a panting Naruto to scan the sky, and saw what they had been loitering around this backwater village waiting for. The bird whistle was on a cord hanging from his neck, and he fished it out and blew it sharply, three times. Within moments, a fierce looking falcon with a deadly hooked beak had landed on his raised arm.

The note tied on its leg was quickly removed, and Jiraya passed the bird to his student before unrolling the thin, small note, and reading the sparse characters inked on it.

While Jiraya had used a subtle chakra to strengthen his skin so the raptor's claws would not pierce him, Naruto didn't bother. The slight puncture wounds would heal within minutes. His sensei motioned toward him, and Naruto easily launched the bird back into the air.

"So?"

Jiraya grinned, and it was somehow sharp and dangerous under the carefree gesture.

"Looks like we're going home."

* * *

_Toad-_

_The seal is loosening._

_Come back __**now**__._

_

* * *

_

A/N: As I said in the summary, this **is** AU. Expect things to start getting different. I will be taking liberties. This fic starts around the time Naruto: Shippunden did.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing except this plot idea, and maybe? a few OC's.


	3. Conversion

_Chapter Two: Conversion_

Something was wrong with Hyuuga Hinata. This, in and of itself, was not special- she had been told all her life that she was broken, sub-par, wrong. She was weak, worthless, unsuited to be heir. She was a pushover, a weirdo, a crybaby, a wimp. These were all words used so frequently to describe her that they had become a part of her and lost all meaning. She had become used to feeling a general state of unhappiness that numbed everything from her heart outwards.

But this was different.

It was not depression or sadness or angst. It was almost like restlessness, as if ants were crawling around inside her skin, and sometimes she wonders if this is what Shino feels like. Still, it came and went, varying in intensity. Some days it was a gentle tickle, barely felt, and at other times, it was fire ants viciously biting wherever they could reach, making it impossible to sleep or rest. She spent those nights restlessly prowling Konoha like a wraith, less even than the ghost of a shadow. Even when she could sleep, it was not restful in the least- she roused frequently, startled at imagined noises, waking up sandy-eyed and shaking.

People were beginning to notice. Her father had been even more disgusted than usual- if she had been clumsy before, it was now multiplied exponentially. Her sensei, Kurenai, frowned at her every time she came into view- could it be she too, was finally giving up on her? She rarely saw Shino or Kiba these days. They had all been made chuunin, and they were often gone on missions without her.

She had been particularly cold that morning- fall was nibbling greedily along the edges of summer- and had donned a jacket that was a deep royal purple of thick cloth instead of her usual lavender. Somehow, this detail is stuck in her mind as important, that she had done something out of character on that day. The jacket held her warm and snug as she slid open the shoji. No one ever visited her, and she hadn't bothered to use her _byakugan_, so she jumped in surprise as Neji appeared from behind the rice paper door.

He sneered.

Hinata tried for a smile, but it quavered and fell. Today was a bad day; the restlessness was clawing at her insides and nipping at her throat. She really just wanted to try and go back to sleep…

"Hiashi-_sama_ requires your presence."

_"Hai."_

She bowed her head in respect, and when she lifted her gaze, he was gone.

The housing complex of the main family was intricate and complicated. Originally its purpose was to make it impassable for intruders, but it eventually became another point of pride for the Hyuuga, to brag that even their houses were superior to those of others. To be able to find your way was a necessity within the clan, and it was nearly impossible to learn without the Byakugan. Hinata had been born and raised here, and it was one of the few ways in which she was not a failure. She was never lost, could find her way around with no light, and seldom failed to be on time.

So it was only a matter of minutes before she arrived at her father's study. It looked cold and austere, the stiff formality thick in the air and making it stifling. Her father sat, upright and poised, white eyes glinting in the meager light like moonstones.

"Sit."

Hinata sat, making sure to fold herself gracefully and wincing a bit as her knees thumped the floor. She sent a quick, shamed, glance to her father only to find blank neutrality resting on his face.

Her heart leapt- but her skin crawled.

"Father, I-"

"-be silent."

Dark, thick quiet.

Hinata felt her heart beat hard in her chest, fear jittering along her nerves. Her breath shuddered out of her lungs. Her father's voice chilled her like an arctic wind.

"The council has decided- you are not only a shame to the clan, you are a liability. They have requested that you be banished and never allowed to return."

She froze.

"I have granted this request."

Her breath stopped.

Her world stopped.

He was lying- he would take it back, any second now, say this was her last chance, say she had to improve….

"You will leave now. All your possessions belong to the clan."

Hiashi motioned toward a white bundle on the low desk.

"This is the only thing you own. Leave your current attire here."

And he left.

He left.

Her lungs were hitching in fits and starts, short gasping sobs without tears. The silence hissed vile things in her ears.

She changed.

The thin, torn yukata was bone white- a mourning color. At first, her father was the only one taking her to the gate, but after a few turns in the labyrinth of the main house, others came. Hanabi first, making her heart hurt, then Neji, and others- Shinonji, an aging council member who had given her a sweet once; Nayumi, the wife of a prominent jyuuken user- all silent, blank faces and cool stares that went right through her.

It was an eternity and the shortest of moments before she reached the main gate. The dark wooden panels were already open, peering out into the bright, quiet street.

Hinata looked back.

The whole clan was there, pale eyes drowning her. Her father stood at the front of the crowd, his cold gaze holding hers. He spoke.

"The eyes of the clan no longer see you."

They spoke.

_"The eyes of the clan are blind to you."_

"The ways of the clan are no longer yours."

_"The ways of the clan can no longer be yours."_

"The home of the clan is not your home."

_"Our home is not for you!"_

And they walked away, not looking back, for there was nothing to see- she no longer existed, less than a ghost. Her father…

….her father….

Hinata's voice leapt back into her and she cried-

"Father!"

He did not slow or change his stride.

Something dark bloomed in her, roughening her voice and tainting it low and dark. There was something in it of a wail, and she said-

_"Daddy!"_

He stopped- but only for a moment.

A cloud passed over the sun.

The courtyard was empty.

* * *

_A/N: Don't kill me please! The next chapter will definitely be in this month. I'm open to suggestions: where do you want it to go?_


End file.
